Retracting type theater chair



20, 1949 J. J. KENNY 2,492,099

RETRACTING TYPE THEATER CHAIR Filed D80. 5, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l grwwwbop J07": IKenn Dec. 20, 1949 J. J. KENNY RETRACTING TYPE THEATER CHAIR 2 She ets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 5, 1947 lllil l a ,l lllillllfllfltlllln Illfllllll IIII I I 4 I I!Il'llillllliliilllllif:

Patented Dec. 20, 1949 NT, V OFFICE RETRACTING TYPE THEATER CHAIR I John J. Kenny, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignor to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of New Jersey 9' Application December 5,1947, Serial No. 789,926

2 Claims. 1

wherein the chair occupant may move the seat rearwardly .to permit others to pass in front of him without his having to rise from the seat; to provide such a chair in which the chair seat and back are mounted on spaced upright standards for forward and rearward movements, the mounting mechanism being comprised solely of links and without any rollers or the like; to provide such a chair in which the seat may beupwardly turned in either the forward or retracted position of the chair; and in general to provide such a retracting chair which is simple and reasonably economical in manufacture, smooth and efficient in operation and attractive in appearance.

An illustrative embodimentof the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a right hand side elevational view of a retracting chair in its forward position of occupancy, the chair seat and back being mounted at their opposite sides on spaced upright chair supporting standards by means of like right and left link mechanism;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure l and showing the chair in its retracted position of occupancy; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the left hand side portion of the chair, certain parts thereof being shown in vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring now in detail to these drawings wherein like parts are designated by the. same numerals in the several views, the retracting chair there shown is mounted on spaced, upright chairsupporting standards III each of which is provided with a conventional arm rest I I at the top thereof. The chair comprises a seat I2 having a sheet metal foundation or pan I3 and a conventional upholstered seat cushion I4, and a back I5 having an upholstered cushion I6 mounted on a sheet metal back plate l1 having forwardly extending side flanges or wings I8.

Front supporting links I9 have their lower ends pivotally connected to the lower forward portions of the standards II! respectively, and rear supporting links have their upper ends pivotally connected to the upper rearward portions of the standards III respectively. Carriers 2! at opposite sides of the chair have their forward ends pivotally connected to the upper ends of the front links Il respectively and have their rearward ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the'rear links 20 respectively. The carriers 2I are. thus mounted adjacent the standards for forward and rearward movements. I I I The seat I2 is mounted on the carriers 2| for forward and rearward movements therewith by means of seat mounting brackets 22 having putwardly turned flanges 23 secured as by means of machine screws 24 to inwardly turned flanges 25 on the carriers 2|. The pan I3 of the seat l2 has its opposite sides rotatably mounted on inwardly extending spindles 26 on the seat mounting brackets 22, and the seat is thus turnable about a horizontal axis to a lowered position for occupancy or to a raised position (not shown) to facilitate sweeping under the chair.

The chair back I5 is pivotally connected at its bottom to the carriers 2| by means of the same pins or rivets 21 which connect the lower ends of the rear links 20 to the rearward ends of the carriers, and which rivets pass through apertures in the wings I8 of the back plate H. The back is supported above its pivotal connections to the carriers by means of back-actuating levers 28 which have their lower forward ends pivotally connected to the front links I9 and have their upper rearward ends pivotally connected to the wings I8 of the back plate I I. It will be seen that, as the chair is retracted from its forward position shown in Figure 1 to its retracted position shown in Figure 2, the back-actuating levers 28 turn the back from an upwardly-rearwardly inclined position to a near-vertical position, so that the space to the rear of the chair utilized for rejtraction is kept to a minimum. When the chair is returned to its normal forward position of occupancy, the back-actuating levers 28 cause the back to assume again its upward-rearward inclination for the greater comfort of the occupant.

Stop means are provided for limiting the forward and rearward movements of the chair. As here shown these means comprise front stops 29 which are contacted by the front links I9 to limit forward movement of the chair, and rear stops 30 which are contacted by the rear links 20 to limit rearward movement of the chair. These stops 29 and 30 are here shown integrally cast with the standards II), but they may be separate elements and may be made of rubber to cushion and silence the stopping of the chair.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a chair of the retracting type which is extremely simple and economical in construction, and which is smoothandquiet in operation, and while but one specific embodiment oi the invention has been herein shown and described it will be understood that numerous details may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as the same is defined by the following claims:

I claim:

1. In a chair, spaced upright chair-supporting standards, from :links having their lower ends pivotally connected to the lower forward portions of said standards, rear links having their upper ends pivotally connected to the upper rearward portions of said standards, carriers having their forward ends pivotally connected to theupper ends of the front links and havingtheir'rearwaih ends pivotally connected to "the lo'wer'ends of the rear links, a chair seat mounted on the carriers, a chair back having its lower'opposite si'des pivotally connected to the rearward ends of the carriers, a back-actuating link having its lower forward end pivotally connected to a front link and having its upper rearward end 'pivotalliy con inecte'd'to the'chair back above th'elatter s'tpivotal connections to the carriers. and stop means for limiting the forward and rearward movements of the carriers.

2. 1m chair, spaced upright chair-supporting standards, front "links having their lower ends pivotally connected to the lower forward portions of said standards, rear links having their upper ends pivotally connected to the upper rearward portions of said standards, carriers having their forward ends pivotally connected to the upper ends of the front links and having their rearward ends pivotally connected to the lower ends of the rear Hiriks, ':a chair seat mounted bn the carriers, a chairback having its lower opposite side pivotally connected to the rearward ends of the car- 'riers, back-actuating links having their lower- :forward ends :pivotally connected to the front links and having their upper rearward ends pivotally 'connectedtoppposite sides of the chair back 'above'th'e latterls 'giivotal connections to the carr'i'ers, and stop means for limiting the forward aind rearwarii movements of the carriers.

JOHN J. KENNY.

REFERENCES CITED UNIQ'ED "STATES PATENTS Number Name .Date T341654 WiIt June T5 I886 :1, 'rs9;337 'Knabusch l Jan. 20, 19:;1 

